Entrance exam: frequently asked questions

The sooner, the better. Although it’s possible to work through the materials in a few weeks if you dedicate enough time each week, beginning earlier makes the process smoother. You’ll have the flexibility to dive deeper into challenging topics and revisit them if needed. This proactive approach helps you feel well-prepared and confident on exam day, which significantly boosts your chances of joining WU Vienna.

The BBE Entrance Exam runs for 2 hours (120 minutes) and is conducted in person in Vienna. It consists exclusively of multiple-choice (true/false) questions covering the three subject areas.

Students who start at least four weeks before the exam reach a 51% acceptance rate, compared to the overall 7% admission rate. This underscores the advantage of a structured, exam-focused approach in helping you secure your spot at WU Vienna.

The WU BBE exam awards points for each correct statement you select. For instance, if a question has five statements and you correctly identify four, you earn points for those four correct answers. There’s no penalty for incorrect or missing selections, so you can accumulate partial credit based on what you genuinely know.

The BBE (Business and Economics) Entrance Exam is part of the annual selection procedure for applicants to the Bachelor's Program in Business and Economics at WU Vienna. It tests English language skills, elementary economics and business knowledge, as well as mathematics at the level of the Austrian “Standardized Competence-Oriented Written School-Leaving Examination.”

The online exam is held once a year in the summer. For 2026, the Written Entrance Exam has taken place on June 30, 2026, with two start intervals at 10:00 a.m. (CEST).

1. Online Self-Assessment (OSA): Complete between March 3 and June 2. 2. Entrance Exam Registration: After passing the OSA, you automatically receive access to sign up for the Written Online Exam. Make sure you meet all admission criteria (secondary school leaving certificate, English proficiency B2, etc.) before registering.

No. The BBE Entrance Exam has a single date (usually June 30) and start intervals; no exceptions or alternative dates are possible. WU (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien)

English Language Skills: Grammar, business-related vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Business & Economics Knowledge: Basic concepts from independent literature study. Mathematics: Problems comparable to the Austrian school-leaving exam.

Successful applicants receive an admission offer and, upon acceptance, complete: Submission of original documents (in person or by post). Personal enrollment at the Study Service Center. Payment of tuition fees and Students’ Union dues. Enrollment for the winter semester typically runs from July 10 to September 5.

The exam generally draws on all components, but the weighting shifts from year to year, so there is no fixed distribution to rely on. Coverage within a component is uneven too: some subtopics appear as a full block of five statements, others in just one or two. The safest approach is to prepare every chapter rather than betting on which will come up. In general, mathematics and economics make up approximately 80% of the total points, and the language part the remaining 20%.

Historically the exam had **33-35 tasks**, each with 5 statements, so **165-175 statements in total**, split **13 Mathematics / 10-12 Economics / 10 English** over the old 2.5-hour format. By points, that worked out to roughly **40% Mathematics, 40% Economics, 20% English**. It is **not constant**: the exact split changes from year to year, and with the 2026 exam shortened to 2 hours we expect proportionally fewer tasks. Treat 40 / 40 / 20 as a guide, not a guarantee.

You have full freedom. All questions and components are available at once, so you can jump between them in any order, go back to earlier questions, and split your time however you like. Nothing is handed out or collected component by component. It is effectively one open booklet for the whole exam.

WU uses a **partial-credit system**, and the maximum point value is shown separately for each question. You earn the full maximum only if you select **all** the correct options and **none** of the incorrect ones. On a normal task with several correct options: - **+ maximum points for that task / (number of correct options)** for each correct option you select - **- maximum points for that task / (number of false options)** for each incorrect option you select - the pluses and minuses are netted for that question. So yes, wrong selections cost points, but only within that same task, and a task can never score below zero. A bad question can drop to 0, but it cannot pull down points earned elsewhere. Two special cases: a task with only one correct answer is all-or-nothing (any wrong mark scores 0), and a task with only one false option deducts half the maximum if you tick that false option. Full walkthrough and worked examples: the grading video ([youtu.be/C4ogTs4ZPE8](http://youtu.be/C4ogTs4ZPE8)) and WU's official partial-credit PDF ([link](https://www.wu.ac.at/fileadmin/wu/h/programs/bachelor/bbe/Aufnahmeverfahren/Partial_Credit_System_BBE.pdf)).

Yes, the maximum point value is shown next to every question, so you can always see what each one is worth.

There is no fixed split, and it can change from year to year. As a rough guide, **reading comprehension usually carries the most points and grammar the least**, with vocabulary in between, so prepare all three rather than relying on a set ratio.

No. The exam runs in one continuous block, there are no breaks between the components.

What is often called negative marking is simply part of WU's partial-credit system. Usually, every **incorrect** option you select subtracts **max / (number of false options)**, while every **correct** option adds **max / (number of correct options)**. The two are netted only within that question, and no question can score below zero, so a wrong tick can cost you points on that question, but it can never drag down points earned on others. There are two special cases explained in the YouTube video below. **Should your strategy change? A little:** - **Do not tick statements you are only guessing on.** A wrong mark now subtracts points within the question, so blind ticking is risky. - **Do tick statements you are reasonably confident about.** Leaving a correct one unselected only forgoes points; it is not penalised. - **Be most careful on high-value tasks (economics),** where each wrong mark costs more in absolute terms. - Because every question is floored at zero, the real risk is leaving points on the table, not a global penalty. Attempt every single task. Worked examples: the grading video ([youtu.be/C4ogTs4ZPE8](http://youtu.be/C4ogTs4ZPE8)) and WU's official partial-credit PDF ([link](https://www.wu.ac.at/fileadmin/wu/h/programs/bachelor/bbe/Aufnahmeverfahren/Partial_Credit_System_BBE.pdf)).

No. The maximum points vary by component and by task. In the official scoring, **economics tasks usually carry a higher maximum than maths tasks**, so a fully correct economics question is worth more than a maths one (this can change year to year). Within each task, partial credit is scaled to that task's maximum, and the maximum is shown next to every question. Practical takeaway: treat the higher-value tasks (economics) as higher-stakes. Both the reward for a correct answer and the within-question penalty for a wrong one scale with the maximum. Any negative marking applies only inside a single question, never across the whole exam.

You select the statements you judge to be correct. The exam's own instructions will spell out the exact method on the day, and it will work very much like the exam simulation you have practised on, so there will not be any surprises.

Every question has **between 1 and 5 correct statements, never zero**. So there is always at least one statement to select, and in principle all five can be correct.

Across the three components, points are typically split roughly **40% Mathematics, 40% Economics, 20% language (English for BBE)**, so language is the lightest. This is not fixed and can shift from year to year, so treat it as a rough guide. Within a single question, points are then awarded statement by statement under the partial-credit system, see the scoring answers for the detail.

Bring your own pens. Blank scratch paper is normally provided at the exam, so you should not need to bring your own. As the definitive list of what is provided and permitted comes from WU, always check their official instructions before exam day.

Starting from 2026, the exam is **in person, written on paper**. There is no online or WISEflow-style interface anymore. The question format and layout stay very close to what you practise in the simulations, so your preparation transfers directly to the real exam. The exam usually takes place on **30 June**. This video shows what the exam papers look like: [youtu.be/MQUF3mfaKQg](http://youtu.be/MQUF3mfaKQg). You can also print out the answer sheet and use it during the exam simulations. You can access the PDF file on the exam page.

We do not yet have confirmed information on how point ties are broken now that the OSA no longer counts as a determining factor. Once WU publishes the official rule, we will update this answer. If it is relevant to your situation, ask WU directly.

There is no fixed order. All three components are open at the same time, and you can move freely between them and back to earlier questions across the full time, so you choose the order yourself. For a recommended sequence, see our strategy answer (we suggest Economics, then English, then Mathematics).

WU publishes the official list of permitted calculators, along with the features an approved model must **not** have. Only calculators that meet those specifications may be used, so check your model against the current list before exam day: [WU calculator list 2026 (PDF)](https://www.wu.ac.at/fileadmin/wu/h/programs/bachelor/bbe/Aufnahmeverfahren/WU_Taschenrechner_2026_en.pdf).

Yes. This year the exam lasts **2 hours**, down from 2.5 hours in previous years. The reason for the change has not been communicated, but the overall structure stays largely the same (same components and question style). The main practical effect is tighter pacing, so build that into your practice.

Never leave a whole question completely blank. Always give it a shot. There is a floor of zero points per task, so if you skip it or get everything wrong the number stays the same. At the same time, you could get lucky and guess something right, earning you points. The exam only deducts points within a question for incorrect marks, so only select the ones you are reasonably sure about. Again, a question can never score below zero, so you should always give it a try.

Yes. All entrance exams for bachelor degrees at WU Vienna now use the partial-credit (Teilpunkte) system.